Warning: this story contains graphic content which some readers might find distressing.
Hundreds of photos revealing the faces of those killed during Iran's violent crackdown on anti-government protests have been leaked to BBC Verify. The pictures, which are too graphic to show without blurring, reveal the bloodied, swollen, and bruised faces of at least 326 victims - including 18 women. The images, displayed in a south Tehran mortuary, are one of the only ways families have been able to identify their dead loved ones.
Many victims were too disfigured to be identified, and 69 people had been labelled in Persian as John or Jane Doe, suggesting their identity was unknown when the photo was taken. Only 28 of the victims had labels with clearly visible names in the photos.
Labels on more than 100 victims, who had their date of death recorded, showed that date as 9 January, one of the deadliest nights for protesters in Tehran so far.
The city's streets were set on fire during clashes with security forces, with protesters chanting slogans against the supreme leader and the Islamic Republic. A call for nationwide protests was issued by Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the late shah.
The leaked photos provide a small snapshot of the thousands believed to have been killed at the hands of the Iranian state. BBC Verify has been tracking the spread of protests across Iran since they erupted in late December, but the near total internet blackout imposed by the authorities has made it extremely difficult to document the scale of the government's violence against those who oppose it.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has publicly acknowledged several thousand people have been killed but blamed the US, Israel, and those he described as 'seditionists'. Amid the chaos inside the mortuary, family members and friends huddled together around a screen, trying to identify their loved ones while hundreds of images of the dead flicked across the screen.
Some victims were so badly injured that their families asked to see the pictures again and to zoom in on their faces. Many photos showed unzipped body bags with identifying papers laid close to their faces, whereas in other cases, the only identifier was a bank card laid on top of a body bag - the victims' last remaining possession.
These shocking images illustrate the depth of grief and devastation faced by families, as well as the broader implications of civil unrest in Iran, highlighting the urgent need for accountability and international awareness.
Hundreds of photos revealing the faces of those killed during Iran's violent crackdown on anti-government protests have been leaked to BBC Verify. The pictures, which are too graphic to show without blurring, reveal the bloodied, swollen, and bruised faces of at least 326 victims - including 18 women. The images, displayed in a south Tehran mortuary, are one of the only ways families have been able to identify their dead loved ones.
Many victims were too disfigured to be identified, and 69 people had been labelled in Persian as John or Jane Doe, suggesting their identity was unknown when the photo was taken. Only 28 of the victims had labels with clearly visible names in the photos.
Labels on more than 100 victims, who had their date of death recorded, showed that date as 9 January, one of the deadliest nights for protesters in Tehran so far.
The city's streets were set on fire during clashes with security forces, with protesters chanting slogans against the supreme leader and the Islamic Republic. A call for nationwide protests was issued by Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the late shah.
The leaked photos provide a small snapshot of the thousands believed to have been killed at the hands of the Iranian state. BBC Verify has been tracking the spread of protests across Iran since they erupted in late December, but the near total internet blackout imposed by the authorities has made it extremely difficult to document the scale of the government's violence against those who oppose it.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has publicly acknowledged several thousand people have been killed but blamed the US, Israel, and those he described as 'seditionists'. Amid the chaos inside the mortuary, family members and friends huddled together around a screen, trying to identify their loved ones while hundreds of images of the dead flicked across the screen.
Some victims were so badly injured that their families asked to see the pictures again and to zoom in on their faces. Many photos showed unzipped body bags with identifying papers laid close to their faces, whereas in other cases, the only identifier was a bank card laid on top of a body bag - the victims' last remaining possession.
These shocking images illustrate the depth of grief and devastation faced by families, as well as the broader implications of civil unrest in Iran, highlighting the urgent need for accountability and international awareness.
